Most Shocking Tennis Moments
In nearly every instance, tennis is a game of grace, skill and gamesmanship .
That’s why it’s so jarring when something goes astray on the court. Victoria Azarenka’s sudden collapse on the court due to complications of an earlier concussion was a scary sight at this year’s US Open, but how does it rank against some of tennis’ most shocking moments ever?
A brief countdown of the bizarre and the regrettable from our favorite net sport.
 5. Wimbledon Streaker – Malivai Washington and Richard Krajicek were battling it out in the 1996 Wimbledon Men’s Final when 23-year-old Melissa Johnson sprinted across Centre Court wearing just an apron, which she then lifted for all to see.
Washington and Kraijcek seemed to enjoy the view, as did the Duke of Kent, who Johnson took extra time to flash.
Washington’s quote became immortal, “I saw these things wobbling around and Jees, she smiled at me. Then I got flustered and three sets later I was gone.’
4. Tarango’s wife gets slap happy – Jeff Tarango had already already declared “That’s it, I’m not playing” after umpire Bruno Rebeuh had ruled against him a number of times. He asked that Rebeuh be removed and also yelled at him “You are one of the most corrupt officials in the game and you cannot get away with this.” After telling the crowd to shut up, Rebeuh packed his bags and stormed off court, forfeiting the match. His wife Benedicte, standing by her man in a way that Tammy Wynette would have applauded, walked up to Rebeuh and slapped him twice in the face.
 3. Fan shot by stray bullet at US Open – To be fair to the shooter, this is what you get for holding a major tournament in Queens. And to be even more fair, this took place in 1977 aka the Summer of Sam with pretty much every New Yorker packing heat or pretending they were to ward off the serial killer. In the third round of the tournament, young John McEnroe was taking on Eddie Dibbs in the third round when a commotion disrupted play. The umpire called the players together to tell them someone had been shot, prompting Dibbs to reply “I’m out of here.” To keep the players calm, the ump lied and said “I said someone was in shock.” The match played out, after which the ump admitted that 33-year-old fan James Reilly of New York City had been shot by a stray bullet from a .38 caliber pistol.
 2. Stefan Edberg’s shot leads to linesman’s untimely death – A terrible bit of trivia for Edberg, who went on to win eight Grand Slam titles – six singles and two doubles, and enter the Hall of Fame in 2004. Edberg was in the process of winning the US Open Juniors Tournament in 1983 when one of his shots flew astray and hit linesman Richard Wertheim in the groin. The 60-year-old Wertheim fell backwards, fracturing his skull on the hard court. He died in the hospital a few days later. The incident upset young Edberg to the point that he considered quitting professional tennis altogether, but was able to put the ghosts behind him and become one of his country’s most legendary performers.
1. Monica Seles is stabbed on court – The most shocking incident in tennis history, and one of the scariest scenes in all of professional sports came with Seles at the peak of her game in 1993. During a change over in her match against Magdalena Maleeva in Hamburg, insane Steffi Graf fan Gunter Parche leapt out of the stands to bury a boning knife 0.6 inches deep in between Seles’ shoulder blade while she sat in her chair. The physical injury took weeks to heal, but Seles did not return to the court for more than two years. Parche was charged but never jailed when he was declared “mentally diminished,” with Seles vowing to never play in Germany again.
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Posted by Nick on 9/15/2010 8:20:41 AM
Filed under: bruno, edberg, jeff, john, kraijcek, mcenroe, monica, open, rebeuh, seles, stefan, tarango, us, wimbledon
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